Propaganda

Well its our favorite time of the year. No not the 4th of July. Its time to pass the budget in California. Maybe it's just my favorite time of the year.

Well any-who. The budget was due June 30. I don't see it being passed anytime soon. Last year's budget took almost the whole year and then what was passed, was rejected on the May 19 by the voters. Democrats are trying to pass taxes in the form of fees and Governor Schwarzenegger says he won't sign anything that resembles a tax. We will see about that. Republicans again stand strong on their call for no new taxes. We will see about that too.

Not to fear though, there are about a dozen other states that are having problems solving their own issues. Unfortunately, California is the one with the worst cases.

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On the sports front, Dodger's all-star Manny Ramirez returns to the line up Friday night against the San Diego Padres. The Dodgers did pretty well in the two month stretch with Juan Pierre filling in for the suspended Ramirez. Pierre excelled and hopes to continue seeing playing time.

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Finfally, if you are in the mood for some fun, here is an article with a lot of events happening around the county this weekend.

On Saturday night, Oxnard's up and coming boxing star "Vicious" Victor Ortiz stunned the world. Being supported and marketed by Oscar De La Hoya's Golden Boy Entertainment Ortiz was the "chosen one" who would take boxing to that next level. Unfortunately, Ortiz stunned the world in the wrong way. After 6 rounds of an intense fight, Ortiz decided he had had enough when ringside doctor said a cut was too bad for Ortiz to continue. And with that, Ortiz said he was done, the ref called the fight, and the dream came to an end.

What is more important than losing is how you rebound. If and when Ortiz returns to the ring, I'm sure the fans will be there to support him. Whether Golden Boy is, that is a whole other story.

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Also in the sports news, USA stunned the world by taking a 2-0 lead over Brazil at halftime of the final for the FIFA Confederations Cup. Unfortunately, they also suffered the same fate as Ortiz and lost when Brazil scored three second half goals.  

It must have been a tough loss for the USA team especially after going in at the half with a lead over such a better team. And the second half showed who really was the better team. Hopefully, like Ortiz, the USA team will learn from this loss and get better.

As everyone knows, the King of Pop is no longer with us. On June 25, Jackson succumbed to a heart attack. Reports say that after a shot of demerol was administered to Jackson, his breathing pace slowed which led to the heart attack. It was an unfortunate series of events with Jackson's comeback slated to begin in only a few weeks with shows in London.

My favorite song has to be Bad. Whats yours?

UPDATE 830 PM: Added PYT song as consideration for my second favorite Michael Jackson song.

Iran is in a state of chaos. Just like the Revolution of 79 which was over religious principles, the Revolution of Today is over fair elections. The people of Iran are standing up for their rights as citizens of an honest democracy. At the very least the Iranian government should call for a fair recount.

It is also amazing how in the modern day we see it happening. Live on the the web in pictures and video. And on the radio and television. Iran's right to a fair vote is everywhere. It is what's hot all around the world. 

And things are getting worse.  A young woman, Neda Agha-Soltan, was shot by government forces. Her death in the street was replayed all over the web yet again.

The Iranian government has dispursed riot police and these guys look mean.

I urge you to watch the video if you have not already.

Since the weekend, stories have flooded the media about protests going on in Iran. The protests concern the result of presidential elections there. Incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is reported to have won in a landslide but many do not believe it and think he stole the election. Protestors are being arrested and events are being subdued by Iranian security forces.

The whole situation reminds me of the 2000 presidential election in which George W. Bush won. Now in that case, there was no voter fraud but there was wide voter discontent. The difference from then and now though is that we did not stage any large scale protests like what is going on in Iran. Why was that? It seems that Iranians appreciate democracy more than we do. We, Americans, have become complacent with our lives that we do not stand up for what we want to believe in.

It's official, the Los Angeles Lakers are the NBA Champions. After a rough road to the finals which included tough series against the Rockets and Nuggets, the Lakers have reached the promised land. Kobe Bryant and Derek Fischer have each earner their fourth NBA title and Phil Jackson has his tenth. Yes, that is ten championships for one coach. The sports analysts said it best, Phil Jackson has won 10 of the last 19 championships. That is insane.

So this post goes out to the NBA Champs and the Finals MVP Kobe Bryant. Good job Lakers. The fans really appreciate it.

When Imus called the Rutger's womans basketball team a bunch of "nappy headed hoes" he lost his job. When David Letterman calls a the Governor of Alaska a slutty flight attendent, it is ok. I don't get it.

There are reports that he has apologized about the comment but I think he owes more and so does Governor Sarah Palin. She says Letterman owes an apology to young women across America and I agree.

So this week there was some hoopla because David Letterman said that Sarah Palin had a "slutty flight attendent look." Now this is very rude of him to insult a powerful female in public office. I do not condone this as it is just a cheap shot and has no place in modern day American society.

But for enterntainment value here is the video in which he did it.

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And here is a great video of MSNBC anchor trying to defend Letterman. Whats amazing, is she tries to say if she was called slutty, she would not be offended. How many females out there would not be offended if they were called slutty?

It is hard to say if the $787 billion stimulus package is actually working. New jobs are still hard to come by, the economy is still in a recession, and people are still losing their jobs.

Of course the Obama administration is saying that it is working, but is it really?

What really sucks, is that even if it doesn't work, it will be my generation and my children's generation paying back the $787 billion. 

Over the last few weeks a rift has been brewing between the U.S. and Israel. The Obama administration is asking Israel to stop developing settlements in the West Bank. For those who do not know, the West Bank is a disputed territory between Israel and Palestine. As Palestinians try to achieve statehood, many clashes have come about because of the continued growth through settlements. It seems that Palestine is now ready to work with Israel, unfortunately it does not seem Israel is ready to work with Palestine.

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On Sunday, several bodies of victims from the Air France disaster began to be recovered. Pieces of the plane, including the tail have also been discovered floating in the ocean. Now the hunt continues to find the black box and figure out what went terribly wrong on that stormy night.

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Its Californias favorite time of the year: budget time. And of course our buddies in Sacramento are doing what they do every year, arguing over what to cut and who to tax. Governor Schwarzenneger continues to cry wolf and say that if cuts are not made the state will fall apart. It was even reported today that the Governor is contemplating cutting all welfare as a way to save the state and get it out of its $24 billion debt. Unlike businesses, the state can not file for bankruptcy.

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On the war front, Monday marked the beginning of the new surge in Afghanistan. As reported, about 7,000 troops were deployed into Afghanistan. This is only the beginning with an additional 14,000 being deployed throughout the summer. Much of the surge is to chase out Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters. The new surge hopefully will work like it did in Iraq especially with presidential elections happening in Afghanistan later this year.